Edward's Dawn
by HumanMoments
Summary: Edward hears screaming someone is in pain. His body is burning, his blood is boiling, and then it hits him: The screaming he hears is his own.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I heard screaming. Not just any screaming, but rather an ear-piercing, horrific screaming that seemed to be coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once. The echos of it reverberated off of the walls, it sounded as if someone was being burnt alive. My head writhed in pain at the sound of it.

And then I felt it.

_I_ was burning. My body, every inch of it, was wrapped in an indescribable fury of pain. The fire licked my insides, the intensity of it threatening to drag me down into unconsciousness. I fought to stay up, but the pain was so strong. I thought about giving up. I imagined the relief that death would bring. I wondered how death hadn't taken me yet. I wished it would. I wished I would die. I welcomed the thought of death, the thought of cool water relieving my misery, running through my veins and putting out the fire that swam through me. I couldn't take it anymore, why didn't I die? Why wouldn't this hell let me go?

I welcomed death, but it did not take me.

The screaming continued; it was a constant sound in my dark and painful nightmare. And then, although I would have thought it impossible, the burning in my veins was intensified even more. I writhed in pain, twisting and thrashing around, trying to get rid of the awful burn. The screaming sounded even more horrific than before, louder and more urgent somehow...my throat was burning almost as bad as my body.

That's when I realized the screaming I heard was my own.

But my throat did not burn from the screaming. It burned with a fire unlike any I have ever experienced. I was thirsty, unbelievably thirsty. As if the burning in my veins wasn't bad enough, now I was doing all I could to think, to keep coherent. I needed...something. I wasn't sure what I needed yet, but I knew that I was going to have to do something when I came to consciousness. The burning continued for an impossible amount of time. I thought I was in hell. The pain was constant, excruciating, and torturous. I can only vaguely recall hearing an angel, telling me I was going to be ok, singing to me a sad and beautiful melody.

And then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. I was no longer screaming. My throat still burned, but it was tolerable compared to what I had just been through. With every second that passed, my mind seemed to sharpen. I could form complete thoughts, and I told my body to open my eyes...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I was surprised to discover that I had no problems seeing when I opened my eyes. I had expected fuzziness and disorientation, yet I experienced neither. My vision was sharp, perfect...too perfect. Everything around me seemed clear. I could hear more distinctly than I think i'd ever been able to hear before. The sounds interested me, so perfect. It was amazing. And my sense of smell...that too seemed to be better than usual. _Wow, I must really have been out for a while. I feel like I've been reborn._

A young man, early 20's at the most, stood over me with concern in his eyes. He looked like some sort of doctor. He waited to speak, hesitant. _Very alert..that's a good sign. _

The man hadn't spoken, but I had heard him loud as day. Curious, I sat up. I was amazed at how easily I did so. I thought I would have still been weak.

"How do you feel?" The man asked me. _His eyes are dark, he will need to feed soon..._

"I feel...great, surprisingly. How long have you been here? May I inquire as to your name?"

"Oh, right. Sorry. I'm Carlisle, and I've been here with you for 3 days, and before that, I was treating you. You had the Spanish Influenza. I was beginning to worry that you weren't going to pull through." _I'm amazed at how calm he is...how should I approach this?_

"If you don't mind me asking, approach what?" I was pretty sure I was hearing Carlisle's thoughts. I was hoping that he wasn't about to inform me of my death. It had been too painful for me to not be alive right now.

"You heard that? Can you hear all of my thoughts?" _Hmm...I never expected this..._

"It would appear so. What didn't you expect?"

"I didn't realize you would be so...talented...when you awoke. Come with me, you must be thirsty. I'll explain everything in a moment. Can you promise me not to go anywhere?"

I saw Carlisle's mind though, and my own mind was already racing. Vampires? Could this be so? I was extremely alert and healthy when the pain stopped, as if I had never even had so much as a cold in my life, let alone the Spanish Influenza. However, I never thought that I wasn't human anymore. "How is this so?"

"Excuse me? How is what so?" _What is he seeing? I wish I could hear his thoughts as he can hear mine..._

"Vampires. How is it that we are vampires? This thirst you speak of, is that the burning in my throat?" The burn was becoming worse by the minute. I had to do something fast.

_Oh, wow. He's taking this well._ _Yes, Edward, that is thirst. Typically, vampires drink human blood. I have found a way around this, found a way to make our kind less monstrous. I realize it is wrong of me to ask you to follow my diet, especially now, when you are so young! But I ask that you try, that you follow my lead in hunting. We will go outside, into the forest to hunt. Do not be afraid, for you will know what to do._

"Are you sure?" This was all so new to me, the thought of drinking blood was euphoric, and that scared me. I didn't know what to do, all I had to go on was what I could see of Carlisle's thoughts.

_Yes, I'm sure. You will find that you are strong, stronger than you ever thought possible. Do not be alarmed. This is normal. Follow me, and be careful not to touch anything for now. You will see what I mean about yourself when we enter the forest. Come, I know you are thirsty._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I followed Carlisle into the forest, listening to his mind the whole way. His thoughts weren't directed towards me, but I was learning important points about my new nature anyways. I can't be sure, but I believe that Carlisle was visualizing events for my benefit. I saw him hunting different animals, I saw his speed, his senses, his eyes. I saw him around humans, resisting their blood, learning to interact without thinking of them as food. I saw him sleepless, spending nights alone--awake. I saw him working with the sick, pretending to go home to sleep at night so that the others did not get suspicious.

Before I realized it, we were deep in the forest. I couldn't concentrate on Carlisle's thoughts any more if my life--or existence rather-- depended on it. The fire in my throat raged with fury. I almost cried out at the intensity of it. My mind was filled with smells--I could smell all of the different forest animals as if they were being cooked on a grill right in front of me. But it wasn't cooked meat I smelled. Instead, I smelled their blood.

It smelled delicious. Without thinking to be stealthy, I pounced the first animal that walked within my range of sight. Luckily, I was fast. I covered a distance of several hundred feet before most humans could say, "I'm hungry."

My teeth sunk into the animals neck, and in the same motion, I snapped its head sharply to one side to keep it from squirming. I drank sloppily, and as I did, the burning subsided. I stood up, and only then did I realize the animal I had taken my first meal from was a buck--possibly the largest one I had ever seen.

I looked at it, noticing how it's large form looked frail lying broken on the ground. Carlisle was next to me with his hand on my shoulder.

"Could you have attacked a bigger buck?"

"He looks so helpless lying there. My thirst is better, but somehow I don't feel satisfied."

"Yes, it will always be like that. Feasting on animal blood instead of human blood has its drawbacks, but in the end, it is much better than killing humans. I cannot accept myself to be a murderer, despite the fate that I have been given."

Edward wanted to taste human blood, he thirsted for it. He could see Carlisle's mind however, and could see how pure of heart he was. Carlisle was a good man. He took what seemed to be an impossible fate and turned it around, lessening the monster that lies within. If it makes Carlisle happy, I supposed that I could appease him, if only for the time being.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I spent the next several weeks discovering myself and asking Carlisle questions. This whole life was new to me. I wondered about my family, and why Carlisle was insistent that I stayed at his house. He was very patient, and mostly he talked to me with his mind and showed me his memories. It was easier this way, and also it seemed to be quicker and more accurate.

The hardest part for me was seeing his memory of my mother dying, of her last request of him to save me using whatever means necessary. It was almost as if she knew that Carlisle was different, that he could do things the other could not. I missed my mother, but I was glad to be alive.

It had been about 6 months since my rebirth. I was still being confined to the house, feeding on animals in the forest whenever I got thirsty. Carlisle usually came with me, but since I was a young vampire, I needed to feed more often than the did. This meant that I would hunt on my own while he was at work sometimes.

Hunting was getting easier. I was now able to feed without spilling a single drop. I was also learning the finer points of hunting. Generally, we tried to kill our prey quickly with as little suffering as possible. I also learned about stealth and speed, both which make hunting more effective and a little fun as well.

I was reading one of the books in the study when Carlisle knocked on the door.

"Come in," I replied.

"I have a surprise of sorts...would you like to try something?" Carlisle seemed eager, but hesitant too. I peeked into his mind and saw that he had a trip planned around humans-very few humans-but humans none the less.

"Are you sure I'm ready for this?" I was nervous, I hoped I didn't kill anyone. I wanted human blood more than anything, but I was also horrified at the thought of killing a _human_. After all, I had been a human a mere 6 months ago.

"I think you are strong enough, you fed yesterday, correct?" _This is a big step, but it's only the first one. If you don't succeed today, don't berate yourself too much. Resisting the scent takes self-control. Sometimes, It helps to stop breathing. _

"I forget we don't need to breathe. Ok, so where are we going exactly?" I was nervous, I didn't want to disappoint Carlisle, but I doubted myself and my own self-control.

"We will go for a walk outside. Well, more correctly, we will run until we get a little closer to town, and then walk at a humans pace down a side street. Let's get you used to the scent of humans before we throw you into any large crowds." Carlisle held open the front door for me. I grabbed my coat--for appearances sake only--and walked out.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The night air was cool, and it was refreshing as it filtered in and out of my lungs. I didn't need to breathe, of course, but the smells were so intriguing. Plus, it was annoying and uncomfortable not to breathe. I did so out of habit anyways, from when I was a human.

I ran beside Carlisle until we got about half a mile from town. We slowed down quite a bit, and I tried to keep my walking at a slow humanly pace. It was harder than I thought. I had become so accustomed to moving at a vampires pace that I forgotten how to act like a human. Well, with my walking, anyways.

We walked down a neighborhood street. The yellow street lights had just recently turned on, announcing the coming of night. It was quiet out, and I was taking in all the new scents. Carlisle and I talked, he mostly explained to me how not to attack people if we were to run into them. I could faintly smell the humans in their homes. If they only knew that two vampires were sauntering down their street right now...

I looked over at Carlisle and what I saw surprised me.

His eyes were wide with shock, and in his thoughts I heard him say "Oh God.." I started to turn my head to see what he was looking at, when I smelled it...

A young woman was jogging by, her long hair in a pony tail, swishing back and forth as she ran. Her scent was overpowering. I could feel that I was loosing myself, and all I could think about was how I should attack her. I was crouching down, ready to jump as she ran by us.

Carlisle grabbed my arm and was dragging me away. Before I knew it, we were at least a mile away from town. The speeds at which we could travel were amazing. The scent had cleared away, but I could remember the smell. It tempted me even now that we were away from the woman.

"I was hoping to not have to do that, hopefully she didn't think too much about the two men who vanished before her eyes..." Carlisle was upset, that much was obvious. He wasn't angry though. His eyes were forgiving, and his mind told me that it wasn't completely my fault.

"I didn't predict that. I was hoping we would know that someone was coming before they were practically on us. You didn't have any time to prepare yourself--it helps if you brace yourself for the thirst you're going to feel." Carlisle understood. How he was so strong in his resolve, I'll never know.

I nodded, but didn't say anything. I didn't really have anything to say, I knew what Carlisle was feeling, and I saw that he was thinking about other ways to introduce me to the human scent without disaster. Tonight had been close. I went into the forest to feed again, just to make sure I didn't do anything I would regret.


End file.
